PIM Virtual Front Panel Release Notes

PIM Virtual Front Panel

This software is used with a Kaelus PIM Analyzer Controller PC. This client-side software connects to the BPIM Web Engine (server-side software) running on the PIM Analyzer Controller, and provides for user control of Kaelus PIM Analyzers.

The most recent version of these release notes can be found by visiting the Kaelus corporate website at the following address:

BUG FIX: Multi-Band BPIM Analyzers failed to switch between bands in release v11.1.0 due to a timeout error. Timeout has been adjusted to accommodate for initialization sequence.

BUG FIX: Transmitter Offset Controls failed to properly adjust requested power accordingly in release versions 11.0.0 through 11.1.0. The offset behaviors have been reviewed and adjusted to ensure accurate power when offsets are applied..

BUG FIX: Report Printing Pagination - Reports printed from Engineering mode were failing to properly maintain pagination. Reporting has been updated to properly print single-page reports without overflow to a second page.

BUG FIX: Engineering Mode Swept Frequency Markers Display was failing to display proper values for F1 and F2 in marker text. This bug was introduced in version 11.0.0, and has been resolved in this release.

ENHANCEMENT: E series measurement speed optimized in this release. This latest version of the VFP has been optimized to take advantage of high-speed measurement optimizations introduced in the BPIM Web Engine v11.0.0. Read the PIM Web Engine Release Notesfor more information.

BUG FIX: Communications reliability improvements have been implemented to increase reliability and consistency of communications with the BPIM Web Engine. The bug which existed in version 10.x of the BPIM Software Suite resulted in frequent occurrences of Error 6600 (command mismatch), and other communications failures.

BUG FIX: PIM Software Suite version 10.4.0 and version 10.3.2 suffered from frequent error 6600 codes, indicating a command mismatch error had occurred. This was particularly troublesome when the error occurred during instrument initialization, causing the software to fail to function. This bug has been resolved in release version 10.4.2. [2221]

BUG FIX: ERRLOG.txt was unable to be created properly under Windows Vista/7 operating platforms, as the UAC (User Account Control) features were blocking it from being written to the program directory. This bug has been resolved by writing the ERRLOG.txt file to the %ProgramData%\Kaelus\PIM directory (a shared data directory). [2226]

SI-400D Analyzers are designed with the granular ability to tune synthesizer frequencies in narrow band transmit and receive bands. Unfortunately, the VFP is not capable of displaying frequencies of such granularity, and so the software cannot display differences between 450.0000 MHz and 450.0025 MHz. These frequencies can be set, but the user interface will not display them properly. This known bug is planned to be resolved in a future release.

Operating System Compatibility UpgradePIM Web Engine is now compatible with new Windows Operating System platforms (Windows XP/Vista/7) with or without User Account Control functionality.

Bug Fix - Error 8 occurs when launching the VFP for the first time in Windows Vista/7 [2188]If the VFP was run under Windows Vista/7 Operating System platform without being executed as an administrator, the program would fail with an error code '8' indicating that it had been denied permission to create or modify a configuration file stored in the program files directory. Windows Vista/7 compatibility requires that the program utilize a Shared data directory structure instead. This bug has been resolved in this release.

Bug Fix - PIM Web Engine Timeout during Production test sequence definition [2193]Since the introduction of Version 9.0, the VFP communication connection to the PIM Web Engine could potentially timeout due to inactivity when as the user attempted to modify test sequences in the VFP production mode. The application has been updated to set the timeout to "never expire" while communicating with the VFP. No unexpected driver timeouts should occur due to inactivity in this release of the VFP.

Bug Fix - VFP Timeout occurs due to communications timeout [2184]The VFP communications mechanism has been updated to be more robust and reliable in communications with the PIM Web Engine. The VFP now properly handles timeout errors and reports them to the user when they occur, however each command is now more robust to ensure a healthy connection before sending commands.

Release 10.1.0 (November 2010)

New Release Notes Feature: Features and Bug Fixes included in the release notes will now include their associated case number for Summitek feature tracking capabilities. This feature will allow Summitek the ability to quickly reference a repaired feature through a unique identier number.

Description of Changes

BUG FIX - Swept Frequency Re-trace visible [1437]The swept frequency plot was linking sweep points at the beginning and end of the sweep, causing a strange trace to appear on the swept frequency plot. The sweep trace generator has been repaired so that sweep traces are drawn correctly.

Release 10.0.1 (October 2010)

Description of Changes

Bug Fix: Improved API command synchronization. Release 9.0 experienced some synchronization errors when communicating with the PIM Web Engine using the PIM API architecture. This release implements several optimizations in this section of the code.

Known Issues and Defects - We are aware of the following potential issues in this release of the Virtual Front Panel. We will make every effort to resolve these issues in a future release.

Measurements performed using a PIM analyzer built using a Summitek TR Module will be unaffected by changing settings for IM Averaging, or Receiver Settling Time.

Measurements performed with a Summitek TR Module while SingleIM is disabled will perform very slowly (around 800 ms per point measured).

Engineering Mode: The Spectral Measurement Mode limit line goalposts display in an incorrect color when SingleIM is enabled. The limit shown is correct, but the color makes the line more difficult to identify.

Engineering Mode: The Swept Frequency measurement displays an incorrect re-trace line at the end of each sweep.

Release 9.0.0 (July 2010)

Description of Changes

COMPATIBILITY WARNING: This version of the Virtual Front Panel has been designed to take advantage of the new PIM Web Engine version 9.0, and is not compatible with legacy PIM Hardware Engine components.

NI-DAQmx (version 8.6 or newer) - This software product by National Instruments (NI.com) must be installed prior to installing the PIM Software Suite. These drivers are required to interact with a Summitek PIM analyzer. For more information, or to download the latest DAQmx drivers from National Instruments, visit the product website at http://www.ni.com/dataacquisition/software/.

This is the latest release of the Virtual Front Panel. To review previous release notes, please view the Legacy Release Notes.